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Scarr has three useable ridges off it, to the north, south and east. The easiest perhaps is the Glenmacnass Waterfall carpark O11380 03009A (notorious for break-ins). From here head for the north ridge that extends from Scarr to Kanturk (aka Brown Mountain). Round trip around 90-100 minutes.

Another starts from Oldbridge O1581 0197B. From the east of the public road there is a well surfaced track that leads steadily uphill past farms and several new houses. Follow this until the point where it swings sharply left and leave it to head through a gateway straight ahead onto a grassy boreen that leads onto the lower slopes of Scarr.

From the south at T14021 9751C there is a small carpark. (This is a useful also because there is a bridge allowing access to the Brockaghs area here) Head up via forest tracks and a path up the southern ridge of Scarr, marvelling that such a small summit can have so many false tops.

Other routes from the north come via Knocknacloghoge or the track around the north side of Lough Dan.

The top itself has a modest cairn. Notoriously Scarr can be extremely windy since its shape can catch a SW wind and funnel it towards the top. Trackback: http://mountainviews.ie/summit/210/comment/4970/

Picture from kernowclimber : View from the eastern ridge

Picture: View from the eastern ridge

Small cairn, big views

by kernowclimber 31 Aug 2010

Leaving one car at Pier Gates, we drove to Oldbridge parking on a grassy verge (O15823 01944D). Just ahead on the left is a well surfaced track that leads steadily uphill past farms and several new houses. Follow this until the point where it swings sharply left and leave it to head through a gateway straight ahead onto a grassy boreen that leads onto the lower slopes of Scarr. Just past an NPWS sign, follow a discernable track through the bracken on the far right close to the trees, at the top of which bear west over low gorse, heather and bilberry to meet with a ridge path up to Scarr.

Dramatic vistas reward the walker from the ridge: Knocknacloghoge, the tumbled down rocks on its slope gleaming white in the sun, interspersed with beautiful swathes of golden gorse and purple heather mingling with the greens of bracken and conifer; in the valley below, Lough Dan, the wind creating continually changing mazy patterns over its inky blue surface, and on the skyline the gleaming quartzite peak of Great Sugar Loaf. The heightening wind sent clouds hurrying across the sky casting immense brooding shadows over the land whipping the ragged white heads of the nearby bog cotton into a frenzy.

A steady climb over ground that is occasionally boggy and rocky in places brings one onto the grassy summit of Scarr with its small cairn and big views. Moorland undulates east towards the coast merging with deep green swathes of forestry and a colourful late summer patchwork quilt of fields, beyond which is the sea. And all around, wave upon wave of purple tainted mountains fade away into indigo, blue and smoky grey.

Descending in a NW direction provides fine views over Tonelagee, its slopes sweeping down to the Glenmacnass River flowing like quicksilver below. Close to the Old Military Road it cascades chaotically down over rocks to the glen below, its harsh cadence periodically audible before being snatched by the wind.

Our route over the heath to Kanturk offered exceptionally fine walking, passing by a phallic shaped rock at O12505 02798E, bog pools and several glacial erratics like giants’ marbles accidentally dropped in a game eons ago. Grand views of Scarr lay behind us, rising skyward like a shark’s fin, and as we descended NE over short wiry heather, Lough Dan again came into view. On its NW shore is a sickle-shaped beach of golden sand deposited by the Inchavore River that meanders in serpentine fashion down the valley to empty into the lake close to a thin ribbon of trees.

Caution was needed as we made our descent over steep ground towards the Inchavore River; the heather and bracken is waist high in places and obscured rocks beneath. We soon came to a rocky pathway bounding forestry leading towards Lough Dan. A small cairn and a pile of stones on a rock outcrop on the path direct the walker down through the trees by a mossy wall (O13223 04310F) to gain a copse of oaks beside the river. Our next objective: Knocknacloghoge. Trackback: http://mountainviews.ie/summit/210/comment/6040/

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Picture from wicklore : Evoking memories

Picture: Evoking memories

Echoes of the Past

by wicklore 2 Mar 2015

Many years ago I worked with a group of young siblings. They were troubled children, and life had dealt them a very poor start in life. Low self-esteem , challenging behaviour & conflict threatened to mar their ability to reach their potential in life. I had the opportunity to take them for frequent walks and hikes in the mountains, and we visited many of Wicklow’s summits over the course of three years.

Scarr Mountain was one such summit. We had attempted to climb it twice but had been turned back by poor weather. It became our mission to conquer it and we eagerly prepared, watching the weather and planning our route. Learning from previous attempts, we ensured we had adequate clothing. With renewed resolve we set out early on New Years Day 1999. The four siblings, aged from 8- 13 years, energetically bounded along the track up the steep, snow-clad, hillside. Battling the biting wind we eventually emerged onto the fine summit ridge and then onto the rocky summit prominence. The boys revelled in their accomplishment, running back and forth along the ridge, chasing each other, throwing snowballs and picking out the surrounding hills and mountains we had previously climbed. One of the boys proudly proclaimed something along the lines of ‘it took us three times Scarr, and you thought you could beat us, but we conquered you!’

Yesterday, for the first time in 16 years, I found myself on the summit of Scarr. The conditions were similar to my last foray in 1999 –snow and buffeting, freezing wind. I wasn’t particularly surprised when the memories came flooding back, as this has happened on several summits I have revisited over the years. However I was surprised at the clarity of the memories. I could visualise the boys running along the ridge, their laughter carried on the wind, their eyes gleaming with delight on their cold-reddened faces. I recalled the brief conversation we had with a Dutch walker who stopped to congratulate the boys. I recalled sitting down out of the wind to unwrap our tinfoil-covered sandwiches. I recalled one of the boys ruefully holding out his broken hiking stick which Santa had only given him a week before. I recalled one of the boys, who had subsequently passed away at the age of 15, pointing excitedly to Ballinacorbeg outside Roundwood to the east saying ‘we climbed that! We climbed that!’ We had indeed climbed it and many others before and after.

As I reached the summit yesterday, and all those memories flooded back, I was struck by a thought. While mountains and hills have all sorts of historical connections and events, we also make our own new memories and events, to be recalled at a future time. My last visit to Scarr had been a very happy one, and that, in turn, made this visit even more special. My reverie was broken by the sound of real laughter as a man and two children approached the summit, making their own memories. Trackback: http://mountainviews.ie/summit/210/comment/17869/

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Picture from padodes : Arrowhead boulder on Kanturk

Picture: Arrowhead boulder on Kanturk

padodes on Scarr, 2008

by padodes 1 Jun 2008

A walk centred on Kanturk (close to Scarr) could begin at the forest entrance, O106 055G. Following the forest track to the end and through a curtain of trees, you meet the Inchavore River and walk downstream. Just where the valley broadens out, there’s a small coppice of native trees – among them several specimens of oak – that probably gives a good idea of the local woodland in the past, before the pine plantations came. On the flanks of Kanturk, to the right, can soon be seen the livid scar of a blocked-off mine shaft, similar to those in Glendalough and Glendasan. Further on, the crumbling ruins, close to where the road out of the valley begins, were perhaps also related to this activity, although the name of the area, Bolenasaggart, seems to point in another direction. This isn’t a bad place (O139 042H) to start climbing up to the right, the only climb of the walk and no more than 300m. It avoids a lot of the knee-high heather that is a feature of the gentler slopes further on. Among the knolls on top, there is a trodden path in places, but don’t count on keeping to it if the mist falls! At the western end, a track continues SW to the car park at Glenmacnass Waterfall, so at some point you will need to make your way NW, taking your bearings from Carrigshouk in the distance and aiming to meet the road around O103 044I. You have to make your own track over this rolling but not unpleasant bogland, where turf cutting is still carried on in the traditional way. When you finally reach the Military Road, there remains a walk to the starting point, about one and a half kms away to the right. The circuit is no more than 11 kms. Kanturk may not be as airy as its close neighbour, Scarr, but it definitely has its own charms. Trackback: http://mountainviews.ie/summit/210/comment/3132/

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Picture from aburden : Cave entrance on Kanturk shoulder

Picture: Cave entrance on Kanturk shoulder

aburden on Scarr, 2006

by aburden 5 Jan 2006

Great two car route for shaking off the cobwebs - meet at the finish which is commonly known as 'the piers' [O17200 06534J]. Drop one car here and drive on to the Start at [O15786 01978K]. The route goes via Scarr and Kanturk before dropping down into the Inchavore Valley. If you aim to hit the valley at the end of the track running north east along Lough Dan - you may discover a cave which appears to be a disused mine [O13717 04214L]. The Copse in the vally makes an ideal lunch spot before crossing the river and an enjoyable walk along the lake. The last km or so is uphill on tarmac. Distance = 12.5km; time 5hr (incl. 30mins stops) Trackback: http://mountainviews.ie/summit/210/comment/2120/

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Picture from davekav

davekav on Scarr, 2003

by davekav 16 Jun 2003

From Scarr and along the ridge of Kanturk Hill is an excellant walk for introducing people to hill walking. When approaching from Roundwood, veer right at Oldbridge and park along the left hand side. Theres a small lane way on the left before the campsite. Take this to begin the ascent to Scarr itself. The ascent offers a slight challange, enough to give people the feel for hill walking. From the summit there are fine panoramic views, particularly of Glenmacnass, Tonelagee and back over towards Fancy and Djouce. You can then follow the ridge over Kanturk Mountain. As you follow this path you can see down into Glenmacnass Waterfall and as you begin the descent of Kanturk the views of Lough Dan are excellant. The final stage of the walk takes you along the road along the shore of the lake itself. All in all a not too taxing walk with excellant views that can be accomplished in around three and a half hours with time for lunch. Trackback: http://mountainviews.ie/summit/210/comment/549/